Month: December 2020

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Lex Fridman Podcast - #149 – Diana Walsh Pasulka: Aliens, Technology, Religion, and the Nature of Belief

Diana Walsh Pasulka is a professor of philosophy and religion at UNCW and author of American Cosmic: UFOs, Religion, and Technology. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
– LMNT: https://drinkLMNT.com/lex to get free shipping
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EPISODE LINKS:
Diana’s Website: https://uncw.edu/par/faculty/faculty-pasulka.html
American Cosmic (book): https://amzn.to/3aK2kaj

PODCAST INFO:
Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8
RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/
YouTube Full Episodes: https://youtube.com/lexfridman
YouTube Clips: https://youtube.com/lexclips

SUPPORT & CONNECT:
– Check out the sponsors above, it’s the best way to support this podcast
– Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman
– Twitter: https://twitter.com/lexfridman
– Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexfridman
– LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexfridman
– Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LexFridmanPage
– Medium: https://medium.com/@lexfridman

OUTLINE:
Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
(00:00) – Introduction
(08:28) – What is real?
(13:56) – Can beliefs become reality?
(18:59) – Donald Hoffman
(22:57) – Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason
(26:27) – Ayn Rand
(33:25) – How do religions start?
(48:38) – Religion is an evolutionary advantage
(53:59) – Religion used in propaganda
(58:32) – What did Nietzsche mean by “God is Dead”?
(1:03:59) – American Cosmic
(1:07:45) – What do aliens look like?
(1:16:28) – History of space programs
(1:19:30) – Jacques Vallee
(1:28:55) – Artificial intelligence
(1:34:25) – Ufology community
(1:45:38) – Psychedelics
(1:49:35) – Tic Tac UFO
(1:58:09) – Roswell UFO incident
(2:09:14) – Bob Lazar
(2:12:50) – Monoliths in the desert
(2:23:39) – Humans will co-evolve with AI
(2:26:58) – Neuralink
(2:31:48) – Singularity
(2:41:39) – Books: Nietzsche
(2:46:44) – Books: Hannah Arendt
(2:51:43) – Fear of death
(2:56:11) – Meaning of life

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This Machine Kills - 31. Toward the TMK Syllabus (patreon teaser)

With all the end of year reading lists rolling out, we decided to hop on the bandwagon and offer our own recommendations for what to read over the holidays and beyond. Sometime in the near year we plan to release the TMK Syllabus – a live document of books, articles, and other resources that inform the TMK ethos of critical techno-politics. In this episode, we provide a preview of the TMK Syllabus by discussing some of the books that have influenced us in different ways – the good, the bad, and the weird – and some of the excellent new books from this year. Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl).
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Consider This from NPR - BONUS: 12 Memorable Pop Culture Moments From 2020

At the end of every year, the hosts of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour like to look back on some of their favorite things from the last 12 months. In this episode, they revisit some of the TV, film and music that helped us make it through 2020.

Here's the full list:

1. Moira's wedding officiant outfit in the series finale of Schitt's Creek

2. Ted Lasso and the year in escapism

3. Uncle Clifford and Lil Murda in the season 1 finale of P-Valley

4. Michael Jordan watching interviews about him on an iPad in The Last Dance

5. Parasite winning best picture at this year's Oscars, portending the further rise of non-English-language powerhouses

6. The first 10 minutes of The Invisible Man

7. Kentucky Route Zero

8. "Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)" from David Byrne's American Utopia

9. Fiona Apple chirping like a dolphin on "I Want You To Love Me"

10. Cassidy Diamond (played by Shalita Grant) in the third season of Search Party

11. "Uncle Naseem" (Season 2, Episode 9) of Ramy

12. The Good Place series finale

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Unexpected Elements - A year with Covid -19

It was the end of December 2019 when reports of a new flu like infection first came out of China. Within weeks millions of people were in lockdown as the virus took hold around the world.

In this programme we look back and revisit the scientists who were ready, those who had been studying bat coronaviruses and warning of their pandemic potential.

The scientific response was immediate. The coronavirus tests now used across the world were being developed within a few hours of news of the outbreak in China, and the vaccines we now have licenced for use began to be formulated just a few days later.

At Christmas, is there a better gift than knowledge? CrowdScience has cooked up its own version of 'secret Santa', with members of the team setting one another the challenge of answering surprising questions from all over the world.

Are humans the only animals to exercise? Can you get colder than absolute zero? Why are sounds louder at night? When it comes to food dropped on the floor, is there such thing as the "three-second rule"? And, does honey really have healing properties?

Producers and presenters from the CrowdScience team speak to all manner of experts, from zoologists through to material scientists, to find the answers.

(Image: Getty Images)

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CoinDesk Podcast Network - BREAKDOWN: Sound Money vs. the Great Reset, feat. Mark Moss

One of the most popular economics and bitcoin YouTube host joins NLW for a conversation about how to make 2021 better.

This episode is sponsored by Crypto.com and Nexo.io.

Mark Moss is the host of a fast-growing and popular YouTube channel covering economics, bitcoin and more. In this conversation, he discusses why gold, bitcoin and sound money have become even more important in the context of central bank printing gone wild.

Find our guest online: @1MarkMoss

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Everything Everywhere Daily - The Six Star General (Encore)

If you look at the list of officer ranks in the United States armed forces, there are 10 ranks listed which are held today They go from Second Lieutenant all the way up to the rank of General, which is the four-star variant of the rank.  There is a rank above general, a five-star general, which hasn’t been awarded in 70 years. Most people are familiar with these generals as having served in WWII.  However, there is still one more rank above that of a five-star general in the United States Military

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Opening Arguments - Bonus: Andrew and AG QnA!

Andrew and AG from Mueller She Wrote teamed up for a QnA to test a new platform and we thought it would be fun to share here! Note: because Thomas wasn't involved, the audio quality is terrible. Yes this is Thomas typing this. But, it's workable and who doesn't love listening to Andrew and AG! They discuss Trump's corrupt pardons, the NAACP suing Trump for violating the Ku Klux Klan Act, and more!

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Lex Fridman Podcast - #148 – Charles Isbell and Michael Littman: Machine Learning and Education

Charles Isbell is the Dean of the College of Computing at Georgia Tech. Michael Littman is a computer scientist at Brown University. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
– Athletic Greens: https://athleticgreens.com/lex and use code LEX to get 1 month of fish oil
– Eight Sleep: https://www.eightsleep.com/lex and use code LEX to get special savings
– MasterClass: https://masterclass.com/lex to get 2 for price of 1
– Cash App: https://cash.app/ and use code LexPodcast to get $10

EPISODE LINKS:
Charles’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/isbellHFh
Charles’s Website: https://www.cc.gatech.edu/~isbell/
Michael’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/mlittmancs
Michael’s Website: https://www.littmania.com/
Michael’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/mlittman

PODCAST INFO:
Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8
RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/
YouTube Full Episodes: https://youtube.com/lexfridman
YouTube Clips: https://youtube.com/lexclips

SUPPORT & CONNECT:
– Check out the sponsors above, it’s the best way to support this podcast
– Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman
– Twitter: https://twitter.com/lexfridman
– Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexfridman
– LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexfridman
– Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LexFridmanPage
– Medium: https://medium.com/@lexfridman

OUTLINE:
Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
(00:00) – Introduction
(07:51) – Is machine learning just statistics?
(12:14) – NeurIPS vs ICML
(14:30) – Data is more important than algorithm
(20:14) – The role of hardship in education
(28:57) – How Charles and Michael met
(33:30) – Key to success: never be satisfied
(36:47) – Bell Labs
(48:15) – Teaching machine learning
(58:25) – Westworld and Ex Machina
(1:06:24) – Simulation
(1:13:14) – The college experience in the times of COVID
(1:41:52) – Advice for young people
(1:48:44) – How to learn to program
(2:00:07) – Friendship